


Kaleidoscope Room

by Shujinkakusama



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Mid-Canon, Requited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:58:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7588027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/pseuds/Shujinkakusama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garnet and Pearl go to talk to Ruby and Sapphire, deep in the Temple. Fluff, takes place after Catch and Release. // Pearlnet, some Rupphire. Sardonyx cameo with no lines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kaleidoscope Room

It had been the closest call she’d had in years.

 

Pearl stumbled almost blindly through the temple, and behind her eyelids, she could still see brilliant green light when she blinked. The Crystal Gem wasn’t disoriented, exactly. She knew exactly which turns to take to reach her destination, but her knees wobbled when she walked, and she couldn’t quite shake the icy feeling in her stomach.

 

The heat of Peridot’s laser was anything but chilled.

 

Her hair was singed, her skin felt clammy. She wanted to cry, but couldn’t bring herself to, not really, and that feeling was very strange. It was as if she’d crossed some threshold in being strong for Steven earlier, and now that she was alone, she couldn’t break down, even though part of her wanted to.

 

A bigger part of her wanted to see Garnet.

 

She reached the Boiler Room mere minutes after realizing that there had been a shorter path. Pearl supposed she really was distracted to have taken the long way.

 

Garnet was waiting for her.

 

“Pearl,” the Fusion said softly, pulling her in for a tight embrace. The waver in Garnet’s voice almost broke the dam, and Pearl clung with everything she had, tucking her face into Garnet’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I almost lost you.”

 

“You saved me,” Pearl insisted softly, “I came to thank you. After everything I did…”

 

Garnet shook her head, stroking Pearl’s hair to quiet her. This conversation was a long time coming, but that didn’t mean that Garnet wanted to have it. Not when she wanted nothing less than a night alone with Pearl, the way things had been before.

 

But she knew this conversation had to come first.

 

“I will always come for you,” Garnet said quietly, lifting Pearl’s chin to gaze down at her. Her visor still obscured much of her face, but she was smiling, and Pearl matched it with a weak smile of her own, watery but sincere. “No matter what happens. No matter how mad we—I am.”

 

“I’m still sorry,” Pearl whispered, “I hurt you—all three of you—and I know I’ve apologized, and I’m trying, I _am_ …”

 

The Fusion leaned in to press a soft kiss into Pearl’s hair, just away from her Gem. “I know. _We_ know.” She paused, then chuckled softly, much to Pearl’s surprise. “We might need the kaleidoscope room for this conversation.”

 

Pearl’s eyes went round, but she didn’t object. The kaleidoscope room was one Rose had built expressly to explore possibilities of Fusion—one where the Temple projected different combinations of Gems—combined or apart—and where those Gems could sometimes interact. It was dangerous to stay too long, but many rooms in the Temple were the same way.

 

“Are you sure?” Pearl’s voice was small, “I know it’s hard for you—“

 

“They want to talk to you,” Garnet said, and then, before Pearl could suggest the obvious, she added; “And I don’t want to let go of you after that close call.”

 

Pearl nodded obediently, drawing back to take each of Garnet’s hands. “I think I still know how to find it,” she said, and Garnet turned her neatly, crossing Pearl’s arms in over her chest to have her face forward without releasing her hands. Her Gems glowed faintly, cool and warm, pulsing with some measure of excitement.

 

It had been too long since they had been able to see each other.

 

And Pearl’s fears needed to be put to rest before they could move forward.

 

Walking was a little ungainly, but Garnet easily stepped with her best friend, and Pearl led the way into the depths of the Temple in search of the right door.

 

Of which there were many; the Temple had dozens of doors, some of which led everywhere and nowhere. They had destroyed some eons ago, doors that opened to other Temples, just in case. But rooms inside the pocket dimension still existed, still opened to the Crystal Gems’ call.

 

They reached their destination in silence, and Garnet finally released Pearl’s hands to open the door; it required two Gems’ power, and Ruby and Sapphire supplied that.

 

The kaleidoscope room was full of adjacent mirrors, and Pearl caught sight of Sardonyx smiling knowingly at them in one that Garnet turned away from.

 

They passed other possibilities; Ruby and Pearl’s Fusion, Oligoclase, along with Pearl and Sapphire’s, Moonstone. Most other mirrors were turned away; dim because there was no one to show. There were only a few combinations between them.

 

When they did reach the back of the room, however, Ruby and Sapphire were waiting, in an angled mirror that warped a little in the middle where their hands were joined.

 

To Pearl’s surprise, both looked happy to see her.

 

“Sapphire… Ruby,” Pearl said in turn, sitting down before the mirrors and reaching instinctively to lay her hands on their reflections. She could see herself, too, but barely; like a ghost between her two oldest friends, pale and thin and visibly shaken. Behind her, Garnet sat, cross-legged, and slipped her arms around Pearl’s midsection. Her Gems glowed in her palms, against Pearl’s sides, and in the mirror, Ruby’s and Sapphire’s did as well.

 

“We missed you,” Sapphire said, voice soft. “Tonight was too close.”

 

“What were you thinkin’ out there!?” Ruby demanded, and she began to pace, vanishing into another mirror for a moment before returning to her own, looking somewhat spooked. They couldn’t really leave; Garnet still existed, still sat behind her best friend. But still, the other mirrors, the empty ones, weren’t theirs to enter.

 

“I’m sorry,” Pearl said softly, “I—I didn’t calculate it well. I thought I’d have my spear drawn before she could see me.”

 

“I took care of it,” Garnet pointed out, and Pearl sank back into her arms.

 

“I’m so glad,” Sapphire said, clasping her hands in front of her bust. “And Garnet, it’s nice to see you like this.”

 

“It’s weird,” Garnet and Ruby said at once, and despite herself, despite the trials of the night, Pearl giggled. The Fusion grinned, tugging her closer, and Pearl scooted back until she was practically in Garnet’s lap. Their Fusion smiled, adding; “But in a good way.”

 

“Ruby,” Pearl started, gnawing her bottom lip in agitation as the other Gem continued to make tight circles in her mirror. “Are… are you still upset? I wouldn’t blame you.”

 

“This is more important!” Ruby shrilled, heat rising in her cheeks. “Jeeze, Pearl, you almost _died_. How can you worry about what happened a month ago? We almost lost you just now!”

 

The alabaster Gem looked startled, then guilty. She dropped her gaze. “Garnet came apart over it,” she murmured, “I… I didn’t think… I didn’t mean to do that. To any of you. I didn’t think…”

 

“You didn’t think you had that kind of power over us?” Sapphire supplied helpfully, and although she laughed lightly, it was a sad sound. That their best friend had so little faith in herself was a shame. “Pearl, you always have.”

 

“Told you not to underestimate yourself,” Garnet said fondly, absently spreading her hands along Pearl’s sides.

 

“I… I didn’t realize,” Pearl murmured guiltily, feeling her cheeks heat somewhat at the attention.

 

“You didn’t know? Pearl!” Ruby huffed, “Did you even think about _why_ we would unfuse over you?”

 

“Don’t think she did,” Garnet said with a grin. It was nice to see her components like this, and even nicer to have Pearl shifting closer after so long.

 

It was abundantly clear from her silence that Pearl was altogether lost by Ruby’s words, even if her brows furrowed while she tried to piece together the logic behind it. Pearl said nothing for several minutes, ruminating in feeling badly for herself and in her wondering.

 

Pearl reached for Garnet’s hands, laced their fingers and drew them away from her sides, and Garnet let her—for now.

 

“I can’t imagine why,” Pearl said finally, looking between Ruby and Sapphire, then back to Garnet. “I… I mean, I understand that I hurt you, and that what I did was abhorrent, but I didn’t think I’d be… worth that. That I’d ever be able to come between you. I’ve never wanted to.”

 

Ruby pinched her nose, tried to draw in a breath to explain, and Sapphire shook her head. “Pearl,” Sapphire said, “We understand that you have… a distinct lack of faith in yourself, but—“

 

“Oh come on!” Ruby exclaimed, “Pearl, it’s obvious! We wouldn’t break up over you if we didn’t love you!”

 

“…That, yes.”

 

Pearl’s eyes went round as saucers at that, and she stared, jaw slack. Her first thought was that Ruby was teasing her; that Sapphire wouldn’t join in, not like this, was the second.

 

Love was a loaded word, one neither of her friends used lightly. Pearl licked her lips nervously and looked up at Garnet, whose guarded face was faintly flushed. “Garnet?”

 

“It’s true,” Garnet said softly, “Although I’d planned on telling you my own way.”

 

“Sorry,” Ruby and Sapphire chorused, but neither looked very contrite.

 

“None of us wanted to wait,” Garnet conceded. With a flourish of blinding blue and red light, she willed away her visor, leaning down to nuzzle Pearl’s cheek softly. “But things kept getting in the way. Lapis Lazuli, Jasper, Peridot…”

 

Pearl wisely didn’t supply the other major roadblock that came to mind. She was certain that now was no time to bring up Sardonyx. Plus, Garnet’s face so close to hers robbed her of her breath and broke her concentration.

 

“You—“ she started in a squeak, turning to look up at Garnet uncertainly. “You’re positive? I don’t want to presume anything, Garnet, I think I’ve done quite enough of that, and…” And more than anything, she wanted it to be true, even if she couldn’t imagine Garnet reciprocating.

 

The Fusion grinned, meeting Pearl’s eyes easily. She drew up each of Pearl’s hands to dust a kiss over the backs of her knuckles. “Pearl, I’ve been in love with you longer than you want to know about, I guarantee it,” she said smoothly, watching with unconcealed amusement as Pearl’s eyes went even wider, somehow.

 

“I want to know,” Pearl said in a rush, clutching Garnet’s hands, cheeks flushed a delightful powder blue that darkened as embarrassment took hold. “Garnet, I—I mean, I’ve… for a long time, too… So…”

 

The number Garnet specified didn’t actually matter, and the only one in the room who wasn’t privy to that information was Pearl; but she still whispered it close to her ear, and Pearl gaped for several seconds before throwing her arms around her best friend’s shoulders, tackling her full force. Which normally wouldn’t have been enough to knock Garnet over, but she leaned back willingly, let the momentum carry the both of them onto the floor, and Pearl kissed her with several eons worth of pent-up affection.

 

Ruby grinned, cheeks flushed, and Sapphire laughed outright, hiding her giggles with a gloved hand. “I told you,” Sapphire supplied, eyeing her other half in her mirror and reaching out for her hand.

 

“I didn’t doubt you,” Ruby said, “But uh… Think we should tell them to go, Sapphy?”

 

“I don’t think any of us needs to see where this is going,” Sapphire agreed, in time for Pearl and Garnet to part for air.

 

“My room?” Pearl asked in a squeak, and Garnet grinned broadly, scooping her up bodily. Pearl yelped, hugging her tightly, and managed to wave goodbye to Ruby and Sapphire before their reflections disappeared from the mirrors entirely.

 

“If we make it there.” Garnet smiled easily at the startled blush on her cheeks, caught Pearl’s lips in another kiss, softer this time, and made her way toward the door. Sardonyx was the last to see them go, and she smiled merrily, blowing a kiss after her own components as they escaped to a more comfortable part of the Temple.

 

She was confident that she would be seeing the light of day again sooner or later.


End file.
